Chris Boyd concedes Saints semi-final hopes are ‘dead’
NORTHAMPTON, ENGLAND - MAY 08: Chris Boyd, the Northampton Saints director of rugby, looks on during the Gallagher Premiership Rugby match between Northampton Saints and Gloucester at Franklin's Gardens on May 08, 2021 in Northampton, England. Sporting stadiums around the UK remain under strict restrictions due to the Coronavirus Pandemic as Government social distancing laws prohibit fans inside venues resulting in games being played behind closed doors. (Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images)
Northampton Saints director of rugby Chris Boyd has admitted his side's Premiership semi-final hopes have been reduced to a long-shot after their loss to Newcastle Falcons.
Tries from Adam Radwan and Chidera Obonna condemned the visitors to a 18-10 defeat at Kingston Park in front of 1,750 on Monday evening.
Saints had survived Tom James' sin-bin for a deliberate knock-on before the break, but coming away from Newcastle without any points leaves Boyd's men 11 points off the top four with three games remaining.
When asked about their play-off hopes, Boyd responded: “We're dead mate, we're gone.
“We had a good three months and we were set up for the top four, but we have let ourselves down and we have three tough games to finish the season off.
“If you play like we have for the last couple of weeks then you don't deserve to be the top of any race.”
Boyd added: “We were missing a lot of players tonight and the ones we have brought in have not had the minutes they perhaps needed. We overplayed in the middle of the pitch and we gave away too many soft penalties.
“We had poor skill execution which meant for the first 40 minutes we were fighting and it took a lot out of us. If we'd managed the game better we could have maybe put them under pressure and tried to bring the game home, but we didn't manage that.”
A second successive league win for Newcastle lifted them above Gloucester into 10th in the standings, and director of rugby Dean Richards believes the energy of the crowd helped his team over the line.
Richards said: “They brought a huge noise and it made a big difference in the final 20 minutes. They really picked the guys up, it gave them a huge lift and they really appreciated it.
“We spoke at half-time about the need to be relentless in the pressure we were putting them under and not give them the opportunity to make easy yards.
“The strength of the replacements is something we've not always had this season. The boys in the front row when they came on were massive. They affected the game just when we needed them.
“It's disappointing from the territory that we had in the first half that we didn't come in with more points on the board. We made those decisions though and ultimately it led to the right result at the end of the game.”
